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Guide To Buying Construction Toys
For Your Toddlers
If you ask whether toddlers can build something using construction toys, I would say - may be not. But if you ask whether they can play with these toys, I would say - sure. Toddlers can definitely play with these toys.
They may not - at this stage - produce an end product like the one shown in the cover picture. However, the experience of playing with these toys offers lots of
benefits
which cannot be underestimated.
Therefore you should consider adding these kind of toy to your toddler's toy collection.
The best construction toy for tots is interlocking blocks. These are plastic blocks which can fit inside one another. Lego is the popular brand for this kind of block.
In choosing interlocking blocks for your tots, one thing you should always remember is your toddlers developmental stage. For instance :
- Since they do not have good fine motor skills yet, you should buy interlocking blocks which are big and forgiving. This means that the pieces have to be able to be shunted easily, rather than to be fitted. Lego Duplo and Megablok make these kind of block.
- Since toddlers do not have capability to produce something resembling 'a building' or 'an object' of some sort yet, it is a good idea to buy blocks which has a 'base' resembling an object. For instance: a ship or ca ar. This way, a toddler does not need to build 'a ship'. Instead, they can just 'shunt' the pieces to the existing 'ship'.
So, you see, the purpose of playing with interlocking blocks at this stage is just to develop creativity and fine motor skills.
Getting the most of your toddler's interlocking blocks
Apart from 'building purpose', you can use your toddler's interlocking blocks to enhance language and pre-math capabilities.
Here's how ...
- Language capability: talk to your child about what she's trying to build. In addition, you can introduce colors using these blocks as well.
- Math capability: ask your child to count the blocks, or sort the blocks according to color.
Happy playing !
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More on construction toys:
Choosing construction toys for preschooler.
Choosing construction toys for pre-teens.
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